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Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a university, whilst in the United States the most senior official is often referred to as President and in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations the most senior official is the Chancellor , whose office is primarily ceremonial and titular.

The term and office of a rector can be referred to as a rectorate. The title is used widely in universities in Europe. In the ancient universities of Scotland the office is sometimes referred to as Lord Rector , is the third most senior official, and is usually responsible for chairing the University Court. The head of a university in Germany is called a president , rector magnificus men or rectrix magnifica women , as in some Belgian universities.

In Dutch universities, the rector magnificus is the most publicly prominent member of the board, responsible for the scientific agenda of the university. In the Netherlands, the rector is, however, not the chair of the university board. The chair has, in practice, the most influence over the management of the University. In some countries, including Germany, the position of head teacher in secondary schools is also designated as rector.

In the Netherlands, the terms "rector" and "conrector" assistant head are used commonly for high school directors. This is also the case in some Maltese secondary schools. In the Scandinavian countries, the head of a university or a gymnasium higher secondary schools is called a rektor. In Sweden and Norway, this term is also used for the heads of primary schools.

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In Finland, the head of a primary school or secondary schools is called a rector rehtori provided the school is of sufficient size in terms of faculty and students, otherwise the title is headmaster koulunjohtaja. The head of some Finnish universities is called chancellor "kansleri". In the Iberian Peninsula , Portugal's and Spain's university heads or presidents have the title. Those universities whose foundation has been historically approved by the Pope, as e. In a few "Crown lands" of the Austrian Empire, one seat in the Landtag regional legislature of semi-feudal type was reserved for the rector of the capital's university, notably: The Rector is the CEO of the university.

The heads of Czech universities are called the rektor. The rector acts in the name of the university and decides the university's affairs unless prohibited by law. The nomination must be agreed by a simple majority of all senators, while a dismissal must be agreed by at least three fifths of all senators. The vote to elect or repeal a rector is secret. The term of office is four years and a person may hold it for at most two consecutive terms. The rector appoints vice-rectors pro-rektor , who act as deputies to the extent determined by the Rector.

Rectors' salaries are determined directly by the Minister of Education. In Danish, rektor is the title used in referring to the heads of universities, gymnasiums , schools of commerce and construction, etc. In universities, the second-ranked official of governance is known as prorektor.

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Most English universities are formally headed by "chancellors"; however, at University of Oxford and University of Cambridge , most colleges are headed by a "master" or a "principal" as the chief academic. In a few colleges, the equivalent person is called a "president", "provost", or "warden". At Oxford and Cambridge, the university's overall head is called "chancellor", but this is chiefly a ceremonial position while the academic head of each university is the "vice-chancellor". At St Chad's College , one of the two so-called "recognised colleges" of the University of Durham , there is a "rector" as titular head the Dean of Durham Cathedral ex officio while the academic head is the "principal".

The University of London has a chancellor a ceremonial post and a vice-chancellor equivalent to a managing director. All colleges have a chief academic as head, using a variety of titles. At University College London , the head is the "provost"; at King's College London the head is the "principal"; at Imperial College London the head is the "rector" ; and the London School of Economics is headed by a "director". At most other universities in England, the chancellor is the ceremonial head whilst the vice-chancellor is the chief academic.

The vice-chancellor of Liverpool Hope University , also takes the role of rector. Prior to their conversion to universities, polytechnics often had the rector as the head of the establishment; following their transition to universities, the rector became the vice-chancellor. The "Rektor" is traditionally addressed as "Magnifizenz". The rektor is term used for the headmaster or headmistress of Icelandic universities and of some gymnasia. In Italy the rector is the head of the university and Rappresentante Legale Legal representative of the university.

He or she is elected by an electoral body composed of all Professori ordinari ed associati full and associate professors , the two highest ranks of the Italian university faculty, all the Ricercatori lowest rank of departments and representatives of the staff, students and PhD students. The term of a rettore is now six years, in accordance with the new national regulation and the statuto constitution of the university. In the Netherlands, the rector is the principal of a high school. The rector is supported by conrectors deputy rectors who can take his place. In Dutch universities, the Rector Magnificus is responsible for the scientific vision and quality of the university.

The rector magnificus is one of the members of the executive board of a university. The rector magnificus is a full professor. The ceremonial responsibilities of the rector magnificus are to open the academic year , and to preside over the ceremonial PhD defenses and inaugural lectures of newly appointed full professors. During PhD defenses the rector is usually replaced by another full professor who is acting rector during the session. The rector is the highest official of the university, and is traditionally elected among the institution's professorship, originally by all the full professors and in modern times by all academic employees, the students and the non-academic employees.

The Rector of MU - Varna mеet with students from the Аffiliate in Shumen

The rector is traditionally the head of the Collegium Academicum , which has been renamed the university board in the s, and is also the university's chief executive and ceremonial head. The elected deputy of the rector is known as pro-rector Norwegian: Some institutions also have vice rectors, who are appointed by the rector and subordinate to the rector and pro-rector. All established universities have democratic elections for the rector and pro-rector positions, but some newer colleges or former colleges have abolished such elections. Universities and colleges usually have a university director or college director , who is the head of the administration i.

In Poland , the rector Polish: The rector is the highest official of the university. Rector of the university can be a person with at least a doctoral degree, employed by the university as the main place of work.

Rector (ecclesiastical)

The outfit of rector is red or purple coat robe with ermine fur, often with a scepter and a decorative string of symbols of the university. Rectors of military universities - wear only uniform of an officer and a necklace with symbols of the university. The term of office of the rector of public universities since lasts for 4 years previously 3 years and begins on 1 September in an election year and ends on 31 August of the year in which the term ends.

A person may not be elected to serve as rector for more than two consecutive terms. In the case of private universities the rule is regulated by university statute.

The Rector | UniTrento

In Portugal , the rector Portuguese: Reitor is the highest official of each university. The title of the rector of the universities whose foundation has been historically approved by the Pope, as the University of Coimbra, the Univ. Each university faculty is headed by a director or a president of the directorate council, and the rector heads all of them.

Until , the director of each Lyceum high school also had the title of Rector. In Russia , the rector Russian: Before university chancellor had title "director" Russian: In Scotland, the position of rector exists in the four ancient universities St Andrews , Glasgow , Aberdeen and Edinburgh and at Dundee , which is considered to have "ancient" status as a result of its early connections to the University of St Andrews.

The titular head of an ancient university in Scotland is the Chancellor , who appoints a Vice-Chancellor to deputise in the awarding of degrees. The Principal of each university is, by convention , appointed as Vice-Chancellor, however the position of Vice-Chancellor does not confer any other powers or responsibility on the Principal. The authority to serve as chief executive of each university is vested in the office of Principal, who holds both offices referred to as Principal and Vice-Chancellor.

The role of the rector is considered by many students [ by whom? To some extent the office of rector has evolved into more of a figurehead role, with a significant number of celebrities and personalities elected as rectors, such as Stephen Fry and Lorraine Kelly at Dundee , Clarissa Dickson Wright at Aberdeen , and John Cleese and Frank Muir at St. Andrews , and political figures, such as Mordechai Vanunu at Glasgow. In many cases, particularly with high-profile rectors, attendance at the university court in person is rare; [ citation needed ] the Rector nominates an individual normally a member of the student body with the title of Rector's Assessor , who sits as a voting member of the University Court.

Gordon Brown , the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , was Rector of the University of Edinburgh while a student there, but since then most universities have amended their procedures to disqualify currently matriculated students from standing for election. The rector of the University of Dundee is the long-distance cyclist Mark Beaumont. It is not strange to see them appear in the media, especially when some academic-related subject is being discussed and their opinion is requested.

Usually, when running for the election the rector will need to have chosen the vice-rectors vicerrectores in Spanish who will occupy several sub-offices in the university. Rectors are elected directly by free and secret universal suffrage of all the members of the university, including students, lecturers, readers, researchers, and civil servants. However, the weight of the vote in each academic sector is different: Spanish law allows those percentages to be changed according to the situation of each university, or even not to have a direct election system.

Indeed, in a few universities the Rector is chosen indirectly; the members of the modern Claustro a sort of electoral college or parliament in which all the above-mentioned groups are represented is chosen first, and then the Claustro selects the Rector. Rectors hold their office for four years before another election is held, and there is no limit to the number of re-election terms.

However, only the most charismatic and respected rectors have been able to hold their office for more than two or three terms.

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Of those, some have been notable Spanish scholars, such as Basque writer Miguel de Unamuno , Rector of the University of Salamanca from until Rektor is the title for the highest-ranked administrative and educational leader for an academic institution, such as a primary school, secondary school, private school, high school, college or university. The rektors of state-run colleges and universities are formally appointed by the government, i.

The adjunct of a rektor at a university is called a prorektor and is appointed by the institution's board. In the older universities, Uppsala university and Lund university , the rektor is titled rector magnificus men , or rectrix magnifica women. Younger universities have in more recent years started using the Latin honorary title in formal situations, such as in honorary speeches or graduation ceremonies.

The University Chancellor of Sweden was until the title of the head of the government accrediting agency, the National Agency for Higher Education. From , this position carries the title Director General which is the usual title of the head of a government agency.

The people recruited to the position have in later times always been former vice-chancellors presidents of a Swedish university. This is called chancel repair liability , and affects institutional, corporate and private owners of land once owned by around 5, churches in England and Wales. The traditional titles of rector and vicar continue in English use today, although the roles and the conditions of employment are now essentially the same.

Which of the titles is held by the parish priest is largely historical, some parishes having a rector and others a vicar. Owing to the origins of the terms, parishes with a rector are often of more notable historical importance or prominence than parishes with a vicar. The title of perpetual curate was abolished in However, "Priest-in-charge" is now a common third form of title in the contemporary Church of England, and is applied to the parish priest of a parish in which presentation to the living has been suspended - a process by which the bishop takes temporary responsibility for the appointment of the parish priest, regardless of who holds the legal rights of patronage in that parish.

From the middle of the twentieth century the Church of England has developed team ministries, in which several priests work in a team to run a group of parishes and churches. In such a team arrangement, the senior priest holds the title "Team Rector", whilst other incumbent priests in the team are entitled "Team Vicar". In the Deanery of Jersey , which is part of the Church of England, a rector is appointed to one of the island's twelve historic parishes and as such has a role in the civil parish administration alongside the Constable; the parish also takes full responsibility through levy of rates for maintaining the church.

Vicars are appointed to district churches, have no civil administrative roles by right, and their churches' upkeep is resourced by the members of the congregation. However, in some dioceses of the Anglican Church of Canada rectors are officially licensed as incumbents to express the diocesan polity of employment of clergy. In the Episcopal Church in the United States of America , the "rector" is the priest elected to head a self-supporting parish.

A priest who is appointed by the bishop to head a parish in the absence of a rector is termed a "priest-in-charge", as is a priest leading a mission that is, a congregation which is not self-supporting. The positions of "vicar" and "curate" are not recognized in the canons of the entire church.

However, some diocesan canons do define "vicar" as the priest-in-charge of a mission; and "curate" is often used for assistants, being entirely analogous to the English situation. In schools affiliated with the Anglican church the title "rector" is sometimes used in secondary schools and boarding schools, where the headmaster is often a priest. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. July Learn how and when to remove this template message. For other uses, see Rector. Acolyte Consecrator Lector Reader Subdeacon. Administrative and pastoral titles.


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